>> hey, john, thanks very much. good evening, everyone. we begin tonight with breaking news. numbers that could mean a lot to your bottom line tomorrow. asian markets just now opening. that may tell us which way american markets will go tomorrow after a brutal day today in the dismal economic news that triggered it. wall street got its bell rung. the dow industrials losing more than 400 on the day, down more than 3%. the nasdaq and s&p hit even harder. a big factor this time, rotten economic news. morgan stanley slashing its forecast for global economic growth next year and the philadelphia fed's latest index regional manufacturing signaling a strong downturn. this time the market seem it is to be saying something about the real economy. here in the united states, here to talk about chief business correspondent ali velshi, also steven moore, a senior fellow at the kato institute. also here robert reich at the university of california at berkeley and author of

"aftershock," which is now out in paperback. ali, what happened today? >> a lot of things happened here. we had a situation where it's not just fear we've been talking about. this was actual fact. we had -- we started this morning with -- with slow bad markets out of europe, then before the markets opened, we got this report from morgan stanley which talked about slow growth around the world telling us things we already knew. but they said we're on the precipice. they didn't say we were there, they didn't say it's the base case, but they said we're dangerously close. also cited errors in policymaking here in the united states and in europe. and they said it's likely that the european central bank and the fed would have to get further involved in this economy. now, you know all week we've been talking about rick perry saying it would beo treasonous for the fed to get involved. it represents a view in america that the fed should do no more work in stimulating this economy. so now we have investors saying we need more investment, you've got the morgan stanley saying we do, and you've got a lot of

people in america saying don't do it. we're at an impasse. investors said, let's get our money out of there, they put it in bond and gold. >> the nikkei down 2% now on opening. robert, i know you say look at unemployment more than the dow. but when people's retirements are tied up in this roller coaster and every day it's down, what should people be thinking? >> anderson, obviously right now we have a jobs and wages and growth crisis. and not a debt crisis. and until we actually get more spending, whether it's individuals and businesses or even in the short-term government, we're not going to have enough aggregate demand to get people back to work and get the market moving and get economic growth actually back in force. and that's not just in the united states, it's also in europe, it's also increasingly around the world. >> steven, i saw you say earlier today there was loss of confidence in the united states, particularly in president obama's ability to lead. but doesn't congress also -- there's a lot of people that don't have much confidence in congress either in their ability to govern. >> yeah, you're right about that, anderson.

but look, the people look to the president in time of crisis like this. and i think that the president has been off tone in the last week. as an example, on his tour around the midwest this week. what was the message out of the white house? raise taxes on the rich. you may think that's a good thing to do for redistribution purposes, but that's not going to get the economy moving. and i think, by the way, anderson, a broader problem around the world. there isn't much leadership anywhere around the world. where the ronald reagans? the margaret thatchers? i think it's missing. and ali, when you talked about the bad news today, you were exactly right, but there's other bad news, as well, unfortunately. the housing numbers were pretty lousy. you mentioned manufacturing. i mean, it's hard to look at anything right now that's pointing in a very positive direction. >> the interesting thing was both of you guys opposite ends of the political spectrum do agree that aggregate demand will be the solution. if we get more people working, more people paying taxes, more buying goods, and that's ultimately probably our best

solution out of this. >> well, is this a presidential problem? an obama problem? among others? >> well, i think we're in a vicious cycle right now. i mean, workers are consumers, consumers are workers, consumers are 70% of this economy. and if as workers they are worried about losing their jobs or have lost their jobs, if their wages are dropping and median wage continues to drop, and their homes continue to drop in value, then obviously they're not going to be in any mood to spend. and if they don't spend, there's not going to be more jobs, which is exactly why it's important right now to have more of a, dare i use the word, stimulus or a jobs bill or more active government that can counteract all of these recessionary trends. >> and robert, you want to see taxes on the rich go up? >> well, i think as a matter -- you know, in terms of dealing with the long-term deficit, the rich have to pay their fair share. but right now, right now, we're talking about right now, i don't want anybody's taxes to go up.

and i want right now if i were going to make policy, i would say we want to have government right now with an active jobs plan in the united states, we want the federal reserve board, and the european central bank to be expansionary with regard to monetary policy, and we want fiscal policy to be expansionary around the world to the extent it is possible without igniting inflation. >> bob, it already has been. one of the things that frustrates conservatives like me, anderson, we've done this. if you look over the last two, actually three years starting at the end of the bush administration. as you know, ali, the fed has had the pedal to the metal on the money supply. and, bob, as you know, we spent a whole lot of money. and we spent -- we borrowed $4.5 trillion. this has been the biggest keynesian stimulus experiment in american history. and i guess -- >> -- depression, stephen. we don't know if we didn't hit it because of that. >> that's true. we don't know if we might have

had that depression, but we do know if you look, for example, at what reagan did in the '80s, which was an opposite approach trying to get spending under control. and by the way, also, slamming the brakes on the money supply to get inflation under control, we had a boom period. >> but stephen moore, if i may, i think there's nothing like the recession of '80-'81. it's much more like the great depression. it's a burst of an asset bubble. the government has got to do more than it typically does. the stimulus package, the first stimulus package was very, very small relative to the size of the shortfall in consumer demand, particularly when you add in that state and local governments were cutting like mad. >> very briefly, stephen and robert, both of you. what do you think the chances of going back into recession are? >> you know, if you'd asked me that 48 hours ago, i would have said i don't think there's a high probability, anderson. but look, my meter on a recession went up today because of the bad news.

but i still think what's more lily, andeisonaybe 1% to 2% growth, kind of this slow growth which isn't enough to create the jobs we need. >> robert? >> i think we're about at the 50/50 yard line right now with regard to recession. but i'm concerned also about the underlying structural problems. so long as so much of the income is going to the people at the top, the middle class doesn't have the purchasing power to keep the economy going. >> robert reich, i appreciate your time. stephen moore, two different perspectives, ali, appreciate yours, as well. follow me on twitt twitter @andersoncooper. i'll tweet more tonight. up next, is it even remotely possible that all the video of all the atrocities we have witnessed in syria just aren't what they seem? you're going to hear from a top syrian diplomat in the united states who says that. we're keeping them honest, getting a firsthand report. later, aruba. new details in the disappearance of robyn gardner.

the case against the last person seen with her. what he told police. anderson, dealt with stalkers and blackmailers, but now he's facing a potentially deadly threat from jihadists. we'll tell you who wants him dead, why, and what he's doing about it. that and much more when "360" continues. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. [ martin luther king jr. ] i still have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream today! [ male announcer ] chevrolet is honored to celebrate the unveiling of the washington, d.c., martin luther king jr. memorial. take your seat at the table on august 28th.

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keeping them honest. in a moment, we'll play my interview from earlier today with the syrian ambassador to the united nations. more than 2,000 murders human rights groups say, 2,000, you'll hear the ambassador toe the line of his government. the security forces have not attacked, not killed civilians. in the face of so much evidence with new videos coming out of syria today, the ambassador repeats the claim made by assad that armed gangs and terrorists are responsible for the violence. but we see no direct evidence of that. before we get to my interview, today the obama administration took the hardest line yet against the syrian government calling on president assad to leave power and stop slaughtering his own people. britain, france, germany, canada, and the european union immediately echoed that statement. at the same time, a report out

today by the united nations said that it found patterns of human rights violations and systemic attacks against civilians that may amount to crimes against humanity. as soon as anti-government protests broke out earlier this year and protesters shot dead in the streets, is syrian government including the president himself blamed the violence on seditious elements inside and out of the country. and claims that's what they're fighting. the government has kept that message consistent. you look at videos like this, a person shot in the street, and then government forces shooting at anyone who tries to retrieve their body. they're now using -- trying to get ropes and use a piece of metal to pull the body. and finally, they were able to. but time after time, we've seen protesters shot dead in the streets or wounded in the streets and then government snipers shooting at anyone who

tries to help that person. as other men try to remove the body, they were fired on, as well. we've seen that time and time again. all through this conflict, all through this bloody five-month-long conflict, human rights activists have reported aid workers have been fired on also by security forces. our reporters are not allowed inside syria. this video shows an ambulance that was struck by gunfire, one of the attendants wounded. violence perpetrated against innocent children like 13-year-old boy who took part in some of the demonstrations. according to his family, he was kidnapped, tortured, and killed. how could a 13-year-old child ever be a threat to a brutal long-standing regime. the signs of torture on his bloated body told the world the answer. was this young boy part of an armed terrorist gang as the assad regime would have you believe. he has become a symbol of the uprising. kids took to the streets carrying signs and photos of him.

did these youngsters look like thugs and terrorists to you? the senseless murders in syria even of children prompted the u.n. secretary general to comment that the assad government has lost its sense of humanity. unfortunately, the killing of kids has not stopped despite world revulsion. a 2-year-old girl trying to escape with her family in the coastal city shot in the right eye and killed, a 2-year-old. not a threat to anybody, not even strong enough to hold up a gun. again, cnn can't confirm this, but activists, people took these videos say a government bullet took her life. one man called assad a dog and a pig in this video. two major insults in arabic. human rights activists inside and outside syria are telling the outside world that security forces have shown no mercy firing on crowds that peaceful protesters were asking for civil human rights. this rally was broken up by gunfire in march. this protest was back in june.

there may not be personal freedom in syria, but the government sure have plenty of ammunition. and time again over all these months, almost half the year, this is what the world has witnessed, syrians struggling to get their wounded or murdered friends or even strangers off the street. still being fired upon when they try. now listen to what syria's ambassador to the united nations has to say about what's happening in his country. >> mr. ambassador, today president obama called for president assad to step down saying the future of cira must be determined by its people, but president bashar al-assad are standing in their way while he is imprisoning, torturing, and slaughtering his own people. the time has come for president assad to step aside. how do you respond? >> i think this is an unacceptable statement coming from an important -- heavy weight administration in the war affairs. we were expecting the american administration to go in a

different direction, actually. >> would you deny those? that your president -- do you deny, though, your president his government has tortured and killed thousands of citizens? >> i deny categorically and unequivocally these bloodsheds and killings said to be taking place in my country. the way they are described by the media. >> we see countless videos of children with broken bodies, people being shot at as they try to retrieve the wounded and dead bodies of their friends on the street and we see protests after protests broken up, firing live ammunition to crowds. are all of these lies? >> i have countless other videos showing exactly the opposite. i'm not denying that we have losses of life over there. i'm saying that we should be objective in our approach while analyzing what's going on in syria. what's going on in syria is that

we do have an opposition, legitimate national opposition, and we are listening to their claims, but at the same time, we do have armed terrorist groups that are resisting the syrian forces -- >> who are these armed terrorist groups? and why is it after so many years in power they've all of a sudden sprung up out of the blue? all of this began when some children were arrested and being held and peaceful protesters came out after mosque one day calling for -- asking for the children to be released and they were fired upon. some of them were shot dead. they weren't even calling for the government to be overthrown. they were calling for the kids to be released and then basic reforms and now because of the response of your government, it has escalated. >> the government is not running against the civilians. the civilians are our own people. we're there to protect them.

we are running against the terrorist armed groups. >> what terrorist armed groups? name them. who are they? >> yeah. those who have killed so far 500 soldiers of our army and police officers and police soldiers and security forces. >> again, you haven't named who these unnamed mysterious armed terrorists are. >> they -- they are the outcomes of the american invasion of iraq, anderson. they are the groups, the brother muslim military wing. they are all this kind of extremist groups in the area. all of them spread all over the area after the american/british invasion of iraq. >> but your government has been in power since 2000. before that, bashar al-assad's father was in charge, very restrictive government. it seems incomprehensible that all of a sudden you have

thousands calling for the overthrow of the government. it doesn't make logical sense. you denying there were peaceful protests, peaceful -- that there are protesters who have legitimate gripes, who have legitimate demands for basic dignity and freedom? >> the government allowed peaceful demonstrations to take to the street, and they are protected by the -- >> that's not true. you know that's not true. you're a very educated man. you simply know that is not true. >> no, no, no -- >> people were asking for children to be released, you're telling me they weren't fired upon? they weren't killed? >> you don't know all the faces of the story, anderson. >> because you're not allowing reporters to go to the front lines and see this. you're restricting reporters, so it's a little -- you don't know the truth when you're not allowing the international community to see the truth. >> anderson, this is wrong too because we have allowed litigations of tourists and reporters into the country.

>> come on. you control them very carefully. >> no, we don't control anybody. we are there to protect them from certain groups. >> sir, i have reported in damascus, and i had someone there that watched who i was talking to -- to say you're allowing free rein for reporters is untrue. >> you are bias and taking sides. >> i've got to say i think what you're saying -- you have not offered any proof. >> this is not the truth. i'm afraid this is not the truth. you are reporting what somebody told you. this shouldn't be done on cnn. >> sir, i'm reporting what i've seen with my own eyes and i've seen the corpses of little children, i've seen their broken battered bodies and i've seen protesters trying to get the bodies of their friends, colleagues, and complete strangers, and i've seen people being shot at while they're trying to retrieve bodies.

>> you wouldn't be more sorry than us seeing these victims. they are our own people. and this is why we are saying that the american sanctions against us and the american president and obama's called for our president to step down are both an instigation and incitement to violence. and sending a wrong message to the armed groups that they are under american protection. up next, more with the syrian ambassador. he said outside journalists should come to syria and see what's going on for themselves. we'd love to. we'll talk to cnn's arwa damon who was there, who tried. later, crime and punishment, a cnn, exclusive robyn gardner, only we know what the leading suspect told police before they arrested him. stay tuned and you'll know too.

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before the break, you saw syria's ambassador to the u.n.

essentially sidestepping reality saying in so many words that a video of unarmed protesters being murdered by security forces is instead a video of armed thugs victimizing government forces. before we take a look at part two of my interview, take a look. >> sure looks like protesters being tear-gassed and fired upon on the streets this week. the ambassador says that's not the case. he says outsiders can't understand what's going on. keeping them honest, is this so hard to grasp or easy to confuse with something else? does it seem possible that in a dictatorship that thugs would suddenly emerge and suddenly be doing this? we've gotten images like this

day after day, week after week, and month after month for five months running now. is it possible none of them are what they seem? do all of the human rights groups have it wrong? all of the countries imposing sanctions, all the brave people inside syria daring to stand on the streets with dignity and call out for basic freedoms, all who have spoken out on this program, are they all making it up? if so, it would be one of the biggest conspiracies, the biggest lies the world has ever seen, which would make bashar al-assad history's greatest victim. is that what you believe? ask yourself, does that seem likely? there, someone being beaten, shoved inside a trunk by what looked like uniformed government forces. does this look like scenes of a dictator being victimized? or a dictator victimizing people? keep in mind, these images, as you listen to part two of my interview with the u.n. ambassador to syria. keep this in mind -- >> the united nations high

commissioner of human rights accused your government and i quote, of a pattern of human rights violations that constitutes widespread or systemic attacks against the civilian population which may amounts to crimes against humanity. they go on to say that you are intentionally going after children. they say children have not only been targeted by security forces, but they have been repeatedly subject to the same human rights and criminal violations including torture with no consideration for their vulnerable status. how can children be targeted and then returned to their parents? or do you deny that's happening? >> absolutely, the children are not targeted by the police neither by the army. but let me comment on what you have just said. the report of the high commissioner is unfounded and biassed. she didn't reflect any of my government's point of view in the report. shep didn't even go to syria. she just relied on reports coming from syrian refugees in -- >> sir, back in april, you

yourself said that no international commission needed to come to syria or was allowed to come to syria because your government was perfectly capable of being transparent and doing your own investigations. but that certainly does not seem to be true. >> no, no, no, absolutely. i'm sticking to my rules, and we are not talking about the commission coming from geneva. we have allowed the statement adopted by security council. we have allowed a mission, humanitarian mission. >> but it's been five months. back in april apparently you said you didn't need this. so now under pressure, allowing grews in. in 2005, he was promising reforms, and other than a few banking reforms, there's been nothing. and now, yet again, he's promising reforms months from now. why should anyone believe your president? >> because all these reforms the president assad talked about are now being pursued. >> but this was back in 2000? >> the media are ignoring this.

they are launching and waging a humanitarian war against us. >> you're saying the international community has been on the side of al qaeda, of people who would kill members -- >> absolutely. >> you're saying the u.s. is on the side of al qaeda-related groups that britain is, as well, that france is, as well, kuwait, saudi arabia, turkey, all of them are in an international conspiracy with unnamed terrorist groups and gangs against your regime? does that just sound logical? >> you are putting in my mouth -- anderson, you are putting in my mouth something i didn't say. i didn't refer to al qaeda. >> groups in league with al qaeda? >> no, you don't know all the details with this very important terminology. you have to be more acquainted with the words i know. you are outside from the area. >> you recently accused the west of hypocrisy for describing rioters in england as gangs. >> what happened in london, birmingham -- is only 1% maybe

of what happened in some areas in my country. however, some people they don't want to acknowledge the reality. >> are you saying what happened in england is the same as your government using snipers and warships against your own people? >> this is your own version of the events. i didn't say that. i didn't compare the two situations. i just wanted to shed some light on hypocrisy of the british prime minister. gangs should be dealt with according to the security forces whether they are in england, syria, or usa, the peaceful demonstrators are tolerated in syria according to the law. >> but sir -- >> under police protection. >> untrue. >> this is your opinion. this is your opinion. >> i talked to many -- i talked to protesters. i've talked to human rights activists inside syria who say this is not true.

a woman whose husband was arrested and kidnapped, taken away, and held for weeks and weeks without her having any knowledge of what happened to him. i talked to these people. >> you may have talked to one or three or ten or 100, but syria is 23 million. >> i've heard from many protesters whose loved ones get injured or get shot, they can't go to hospitals because your security forces are inside the hospitals and will arrest anybody who is taken in. >> this is another lie, anderson. this is wrong. because we have had many delegations coming to syria, journalists, reporters, officials. today we have almost 300 members of russian delegation. reporters, journalists, politicians, they visited everywhere in syria and haven't seen any wrong doings. >> and journalists are not allowed to visit everywhere in syria, i know this. we have tried. >> this is wrong, anderson. this is wrong, i'm sorry. this is wrong because 72

reporters were in syria just couple days ago. yesterday, 60 other reporters came. >> and you're telling me they have absolute free access to go wherever they want, talk to whomever they want. they can -- >> absolutely. >> they can talk to protesters in the street? really? >> absolutely. and you know what? the humanitarian mission of the united nations is going to syria on saturday. and you will see with your own eyes that they will fulfill their mission and get back with a report. >> ambassador, i appreciate your time. i do appreciate you coming on. it's a difficult thing, and i appreciate you talking to me. >> thank you. >> thank you, sir. well, it's worth repeating, any claim that outsiders cannot understand what's happening inside syria would be a lot more credible if the syrian government gave outside independent reporters and observers permission to see for themselves unaccompanied by government agents who steer them away from people they want to talk to. arwa damon joins us from beirut, lebanon, tonight, and we're also joined by razan zaitoni.

her husband was taken off the street streets, held for months. razon, when you hear syria's ambassador to the u.n. deny the killings, say it's, in fact, government security forces being killed by armed gangs and that they're not targeting children at all, what do you think? >> i can't believe that these people will keep lying and keep repeating their lies time after time and again and again. i think that the only way mr. ambassador changing the speech when one member finally gets arrested or tortured or killed under torture what happened, for example, yesterday. it's impossible that they still deny all what is going on in spite of that reported by

videos, by the victims, of all these violations. >> when you hear the ambassador say that peaceful protesters are actually protected by police, that seems like just a complete slap in the face to the thousands who have risked their lives to turn out in the face of tear gas and bullets and thugs with batons. >> mr. ambassador, actually, just saying not anything else. until this moment, we have 2,186 names of killed people, civilians who were killed by the security and by the army around the country besides thousands of prisoners. dozens of them killed under torture in prisons. if they means protection in his vision, it's different. i don't think anybody can call this kind of dealing with people as a protection.

>> arwa, the ambassador says the journalists can report from wherever they want when they want and the government minds are just to protect them. i was there a year ago and i had a minder watching everyone we talked to. were you free to go anywhere you wanted and talk to anyone you wanted? >> reporter: no, anderson, of course we weren't. we were assigned a government minder who was given a piece of paper that was pre-approved, which pertained to the certain neighborhoods were allowed to film in. we were repeatedly asked to go to places outside of damascus and get told it was quite simply not safe enough because of the so-called armed gangs. every single time when we were in the presence of these government minders. and we were out in the streets of damascus, it was very carefully orchestrated, very carefully regulated. there is absolutely no semblance of free journalism whatsoever when you're operating inside

syria. >> i think we just had a technical problem. arwa, are you still there? >> yes, i am. >> i'm having technical problem hearing arwa. razan, you know, when the ambassador says that the syrian government is not targeting children, which is now exactly the opposite of what the united nations has been saying. that, in fact, children are being abused just like adults are. what do you think? how many kids have you seen? how many kids do you know about who have been arrested? who have been held for often long time, and who have been killed? >> until this moment, they don't distinguish between the children and other people. and beside that, the government

takes the children as hostage for their fathers or their -- or their brother, happens all the time. the last one, it was a kid. he is only 13 years old. they arrested him two days ago because he they wanted his father. and many of the children got killed under torture in the prisons. >> arwa, i don't understand the logic of what the ambassador's claiming. he's claiming that the u.s., the european union, the united nations, turkey, saudi arabia, that the entire international community, basically, is now in league or trying to support or defend hard-core islamists who he believes and he says are these armed gangs, these armed terrorists. when you were there, did you see any evidence of armed gangs or terrorists? i'm not denying there may be hard core islamists who oppose the government, but is that what's driving these protests?

>> no, anderson, it most certainly is not. and if, in fact, and this is what does exist is that the fren this is not representative of the mainstream representatives. and i have to say, we were dropped off, and we were specifically told to be careful of the individual standing in front of the mosque who were wearing long sleeves because that's where they were hiding their knives. we deliberately ignored the government warnings, ended up venturing into the neighborhood. we saw absolutely no evidence whatsoever of these armed gangs. our government minders kept calling me on the phone, telling us to be careful of the armed gangs, telling us they were coming after us. but, again, we saw no evidence of this whatsoever. all we saw was a group of individuals who were quite simply asking for their basic

rights. to be free, and for the government security forces to stop shooting at them indiscriminately. >> thank you for talking to us. cnn has exclusive new details in the case of robyn gardner, the american woman missing in aruba. what her traveling companion, now a suspect, told authorities before his arrest. and why his statements are not adding up. no laughing matter. a violent threat made against late-night tv host david letterman. who was making it ahead. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] more people are leaving bmw, mercedes, and lexus for audi than ever before. ♪ experience the summer of audi by september 6th and get over 130 channels of siriusxm satellite radio for 3 months at no charge.

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crime and punishment tonight. in aruba, cnn exclusive. cnn has obtained a transcript with a police interview with gary giordano. being held in connection with the disappearance of this woman, robyn gardner. they were vacationing together. they met online. according to the q "washington post" last seen on august 2nd in a restaurant with giordano. about two hours later he reported her missing and told police he lost track of her

while snorkeling in rough water. according to the transcripts, he told police he feared for his life when he signaled gardner to turn back and didn't look for her as he swam to shore. but authorities say his account has inconsistencies. they say the sea was calm at the time. in the interview, police also grill giordano about a travel insurance policy he bought for himself and gardner before their trip. and tonight, there are also new details about photographs found on the camera that authorities confiscated from the couple's hotel room. martin savage joins us live from aruba. what did we learn from the transcript? >> reporter: you know, it's really pretty amazing. we obviously wanted to talk to gary giordano, wanted to talk to his attorney to get their side of events. and that has always been denied to us. essentially what we have here is the statement that gary giordano gave to aruban authorities on august 5th. that is the day he was taken into custody. but it's just hours before he's actually detained, it's really

his account, his own words. so what we find is that very early on, authorities have already zeroed in on maybe that money is the motivation here. because they started asking him about what does he do for a living? how much money does he make? what alimony does he owe? how much of a mortgage does he pay every month? then they start asking about the insurance policies. but after that, it moves on to the issues of the events of that particular day, and it gets to the point of being in the water. they ask him, well, how far offshore were you snorkeling? and he says, you know what? i don't really remember. how deep is the water, they asked him. he estimated about 20 feet when he finally touched robyn gardner and said i'm going back to shore. turns, starts heading that way. then the authorities said, well, when you were swimming back, did you see if she was swimming after you. and he said, no, i didn't do that. he said i only looked back when i hit a rock. before that, i did not look back. i was only busy saving my life.

this is the first time, anderson, we've ever heard him say that he was in trouble and apparently he was fearful he might die in the water. and of course, we know robyn gardner never came out of the waves according to him. >> what about these new photos from this camera that was apparently in the hotel room where they were staying? >> right. police revealed to us that they did, in fact, retrieve a camera. they think it's gary giordano's. now it's being said that these are photographs, some of them are around the island, but others are explicit photos. that's what investigators told me. i said do you mean naked photos? they wouldn't say, only explicit. others say they're beyond porn graph pornogravk. he admitted he hasn't seen the photos himself. he was listening to what investigators told them. so it's not clear what her state of mind was. >> and anything new about this

travel insurance policy he allegedly took out on her? >> reporter: well, the authorities have confirmed to us tonight that it is $1.5 million. two policies. one he took out on himself, the other he took out on robyn gardner. we know that the beneficiary he named for himself was his own mother. i asked authorities who was the beneficiary for robyn gardner? they wouldn't give me any comment. they said they would have to talk to gary further on that particular issue. right now, he's not talking. >> martin, thanks very much. and obviously, still have not found robyn gardner at all in aruba. appreciate it. still ahead, serious threats against comedian david letterman. why a jihadist website is urging his followers to kill him. we'll never stop sharing our memories,

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this means that when you get in or out of bed, you won't disturb your partner. that's amazing. that's amazing. tempur-pedic, the most highly recommended bed in america. call the number on coming up on the "the ridiculist." i'm going to try to keep my composure unlike last night. >> anderson, the fbi is looking into a death threat against david letterman posted on a jihadist website. he is upset that letterman joked about an al qaeda leader killed in pakistan and says his tongue should be cut off. an fbi spokesman says threats

are common against people in the media, but they check them all out. new details about the shooting at a youth camp in norway that killed 77 people last month. police say the man behind the attack called to surrender but hung up twice. pleaded not guilty today to charges of harboring and concealing him. she allegedly helped the gangster elude police from 1995 until this june when they were arrested. and christine o'donnell is speaking out about walking out on a interview with our own piers morgan that happened yesterday this after he asked her stance on gay marriage. she walked out because he "would not stop trying to talk about sex." she added, "he's a cheeky bugger, i wish him well."

i bet it's not the first time he's been called a cheeky bugger. >> yeah, let's bring in piers morgan who joins us. it's kind of interesting. she said she was annoyed by talking about sex and then called you a cheeky bugger. >> there's a contradiction, anderson. and can i congratulate you on managing to pull yourself together? >> yeah. >> i suppose you're keen to know what's on my show, anderson. an exclusive sit-down interview with gerard depardieu. i was confident no one would walk off tonight, but i realized i've got meatloaf live for half an hour. so anything can happen. we've also got obviously much more on christine o'donnell's unexpected departure from my show last night and her apparent belief that i'm obsessed with sex. why politicians seem to be so fond of dodging legitimate

questions and having sex. and the original fellow, meatloaf will be here. i'll be asking him what he says about absolutely anything that i like. and that's, of course, what christine o'donnell said to me. that and more at the top of the hour. back to the giggling maniac. >> piers, thanks so much. i look forward to the show. coming up, "the ridiculist." in case you weren't watching, i couldn't keep it together last night. >> sorry. all right. i promise no bathroom puns. we used them all up last night. "the ridiculist" is next. do a ♪ ♪ some old and then some new tricks ♪ ♪ i'm very versatile ♪ so let me entertain you ♪ and we'll have a real good time ♪

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time now for "the ridiculist," and tonight we have no choice but to add last night's "the ridiculist." i'm adding myself again. also known as that time i completely lost it on national television. i was talking about gerard

depardieu. now, we went back and checked, and i want you to know that last night's "the ridiculist" contained not one, not two, but 21 puns about the incident. there was also esp-off reference. 21 puns soaked in bathroom humor. it was number 16 that finally took me down. let's take another look. >> now, all i can say is they should thank their lucky stars it wasn't depar-two. sorry. sorry. that made me giggle every time i read it. he hasn't commented on this incident. departwo. i know you got it, but -- all right. sorry.

sorry, this has never happened to me. sorry. >> all right. i have to admit it, it's a little embarrassing to lose it like that especially because i giggle like a 13-year-old girl meeting justin bieber. i was hoping no one would notice this giggle fit, but i got a lot of tweets about it. it helps to know i'm not alone. it took almost three full minutes of toilet jokes to get me to that point. for matt lauer, all it took was one little doub one. >> it is a trick that some of

these retailers will use is to shrink the size of the package. a lot of consumers switch to store brands, switch to generics, and they're going to continue to make that switch. >> i'm sorry. >> which -- >> something struck me as funny. oh, gosh. >> now, the home shopping network, all it takes is one caller making one little request. >> say hi to abby for me. she's my baby dog. >> oh. >> you might have just done it. >> she might have pushed me off the edge. >> i like that she's holding the gold chain all throughout that. and in england, a mere mention of a certain planet can instantly turn television hosts into bevis and butthead. >> is it venus, b, pluto, or

uranus? that's 0901 -- the lines will open. >> that's funny. and on the local news, forget about it. all it takes is a traffic report. >> traffic is just fine. i should just toss it to john because there's nothing else to say. you're going to make me suffer, aren't you? >> i feel better now. he snorted. sure, it's been kind of strange having people critique my laugh on twitter all day. writing things like, "i watched the anderson cooper clip and now